This invention relates generally to a more efficient design of the operation and control of a gas turbine. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a method, system, and software for a model based control of a heavy duty gas turbine that integrates the design of the operations and the controls for the gas turbine.
Gas turbine behavior is generally described by highly non-linear models and its operation is limited by several operational constraints. Enforcement of the constraints is typically mandatory and good dynamic behavior throughout the operating space must be ensured. Generally, gas turbines are operated using pre-defined operating schedules which attempt to provide an optimal operating strategy. These operating schedules are validated using a dynamic simulation of the turbine with the operating schedule and a separately designed control system for operation of the turbine. Accordingly, the operation and control design are decoupled giving rise to several iterations in refining the operations and controls to achieve desired results. That is, the controls are separately designed to track a pre-defined operations strategy or schedule.
Accordingly, this separate design of the operations and controls together with simulations to verify the efficacy of the separate design gives rise to several inefficiencies. The operation and control are designed separately (and often substantially independently) and then coupled together giving rise to integration errors and other inconsistencies in the design process. For example, the introduction of a new constraint in either one of the operations or the controls requires that the other also be verified to ensure that it works with the new constraints. Likewise, any changes in the operational model (or schedule) requires that the operations and the controls be changed independently. Thereafter, simulations or other verifications need to be performed to ensure their compatibility. Accordingly, making any changes is a complex process since the changes have to be carefully coordinated in the design of both the operations and the control systems. Therefore, any specific changes requested by customers also need to be implemented using this cumbersome and relatively disjointed procedure whereby the operations and controls are separately redesigned and then coordinated by simulation or other verification to ensure the integrity of the changes introduced. Accordingly, it is difficult to expediently provide the specific changes that may be desired by specific customers.
Furthermore, the operational path has to be designed in advance which prevents the operational design from being optimized based on run time conditions or parameters. In addition, the steady state operational conditions are designed based an average machine case (or parameters) rather than optimized based on the specifics of each machine. Therefore, each specific machine cannot be easily optimized by using this apriori design of the operation path or schedule for the gas turbine. Likewise, dynamic stability assessment and disturbance rejection via coordinated control actions is not easy to accomplish. In addition, the complex interactions between independently designed operations and controls gives rise to maintenance problems since any maintenance related changes have to be properly coordinated between the operations and controls systems.